IMO, if Patrick Henry and Tom Paine and Sam Adams heard the rationalizations we give to ourselves in the name of safety, they'd shake their heads with disgust...and double their orders of tar and feathers.
I'm not advocating such.
"Wade" wrote:
Agreed.. they would.
Just as they would shake their heads are many things in this country, such as air travel itself.
This country and the world have changed greatly since they helped pen our freedoms.
One thing I am certain they would shake they head upon is the lack of penalties for those that violate the constitution, those that wish to harm this country and any of its citizens. Those whose actions drive these infringes in life.
Terrorists are the least of my worries in this life, there is only so much we as a country can do about it since they for the most part reside outside of your countries boarders.
I am more worried about those that reside inside of this country and the motives that drive them. Basically there are those in this country that don't see us as an enemy like a terrorist does, they are just in it for themselves and their personal agenda.
They are unpredictable and are far harder to detect in life. If a terrorist is going to take down a plane, they are going to plan it out, plot and set it up for years and regardless of what measures we have in will find a way around it.
It will depend upon those in the fray to minimize the damage than any measure the TSA puts into place. Much like the actions on Flight 93.
But it is the lone wolf types that lurk in the shadows of this country that concern me much more than any terrorist. Those are the cats that make me reluctant to allow unchecked access to our airlines of the country..
Those types aren't chasing rabbits, we have little idea what they chase in their minds.
For as well as our airliners are designed, they are still too fragile to allow folks to freely carry a weapon of choice upon the flights.
Now onto the search and seizure points to your post.
A cop cannot pull you over to randomly check your trunk, however if they pull your over for another violation of some sort, and have a reasonable reason (judgment call by a lone entity) cause they certainly can and will search your vehicle. Probably cause.
Now pre-scanners they same principles were put into place, you walked through a metal detector and if your set it off, probable cause was established for a more detailed search of your person.
Again.. I disagree with these new Body Scanners for the record.. probably the 10 to 15th time in this thread.
But IMO, walking through a metal detector is no different than the scanners on the backside of a retail store.. the purpose for the scan greatly differs and those of air travel have much more noble intentions.
So back to those lone wolf types that reside in our country.. most will not have access, the means or the intelligence to get past the pre-body scanner security checkpoints. But like any process in this world.. it is not fail proof.. and there will be exceptions.
But even that level of security is borderline excessive.. but then again I seem to be in the minority that think there should be some level of security in place before folks get into the terminal.
At least in accordance with societal norms and processes in this country of today.. if we want to revert back to a day were judgment was passed much quicker and harsher than of today..
If that is the case and we can start carrying out judgment and eliminate those looking to do wrong without question upon a lone persons judgment without due process of today.. by all means, allow all passengers to entry sans any measure of security.
Simple fact is this country is far larger than the founding fathers could imagine, far more complex than they could imagine and far more forgiving than could envision.
IMO.. we as a country have done a poor job overall adjusting to society of today with those core principles widespread... but without radical change overall how can we cherry pick this one single measure?
Patriotism has been greatly lost in this country overall.. today, many folks only point at the constitution when if fits their needs.
Let me state again.. I am not in favor of these "body scanners" nor am I insistent on the TSA as an entity being supported going forward.. but I do feel that there should be a layer of security measures of those wishing to fly in the mass transportation that is commercial flights. Nothing more.
"The oranges are dry; the apples are mealy; and the papayas... I don't know what's going on with the papayas!"